This webzine is online since August 2010 and is completely dedicated to Electronic Music (EM) identified as the Berlin School style and its derived. You will find interviews but mostly reviews of ambient, sequenced and symphonic EM with a glimpse on other related genres. You have questions or want your music to be reviewed? Please read the 123 FAQ section attentively. Bear in mind the main purpose of this Blog. So welcome in and I hope it will guide you into the wonderful world of EM.

mardi 4 juillet 2017

“An Ambient Side which is richer than the Techno Mix, this Polarity is an audacious journey in the lands of mixed styles and mixed feelings”Ambient Mix 62:42

1 Inverted Spring (Aes Dana) 6:072 They Own the Night (Merovee) 5:393 Dance of Death (Valanx) 6:054 Hyacinth (Claudio Prc) 5:105 Hunting The Black Eagle (Mod21) 6:546 La Guerre de tous Contre tous (Musicians With Guns) 6:007 Stratospheric Layers (Ennony) 6:068 Pressure Elements (Resoe) 8:299 Distant Shadows (Variant) 13:0210 Spin (Kinosura) 7:2511 Malefactor (Area) 6:0712 Entonación Chilena (Atacama Mix-Deadbeat) 6:2213 Cape May (Beat Pharmacy) 5:52Techno Side 67:461 Paradoxical Escape (Kinosura)12:162 Hyacinth (Remodel) 6:223 Tone (Beat Pharmacy) 6:394 Aquilonia (Zzzzra) 6:365 Parabol (Arne Weinberg) 6:446 Entonación Chilena (Deadbeat) 6:037 Atmospheric Path (Ennony) 7:258 WTFM (Resoe) 7:579 Wanting (Area) 8:0010 Reality in Numbers (Mod21) 7:5211 Beyond Air (cv313) 11:0012 A Call to Worship (Merovee) 7:2313 Otherness (Aes Dana) 7:38Ultimae Records ‎– inre089(2CD/DDL 24Bits 110:28) ***½(Ambient & Techno)I always wait for the new releases of the Lyon based label Ultimae Records with impatience. I know that we are far from the style Berlin School, but this label has the gift to create works which juxtapose the sound aestheticism in atmospheres stemming from the German movement but in a psychedelic vision which amazes from album to album. The last in line is this 2nd compilation of this year and which is mixed by Focal, sound's name of the DJ Arnaud Galoppe, who proposes here 2 compilations in one with a CD of ambient music and another CD of Techno mix. And as in the accustomed, the music is selected in the court of Ultimae Records and its artists such as Aes Dana, Kinosura, Area, Deadbeat, Claudio Prc to name but a few. An audacious exercise where the awakening between the ambient and Techno flows with pleasure, especially when the finale of the Ambient Mix didn't really find refuge to my ears.Also when Focal talks about ambient music he doesn't aim inevitably at the meditative side. We are very far from that! "Inverted Spring" is faithful to the Aes Dana's signature with these long drones which blow such as hollow breezes. Azure winds and percussive effects decorate this wall of hoarse breaths which floats with as much serenity as its heavy coat of darkness. Very lengthened pulsations liven up it dense ambient movement towards the point of the 3 minutes, shaping a slow rhythm which will eventually hatch with an arsenal of percussions, among which some splendid tremors of wooden baguettes, which will guide "Inverted Spring" towards a first phase of sound cacophony. We have here the essences of this CD of Ambient Mix, that is black winds mixed with more translucent effects and floating rhythms which scatter even inside titles. The only tangible evolution, because the 12 titles here are tied into a long sound river of 62 minutes, is this element of fusion of the sounds which makes raise a cacophonous approach by here and there and of which the peak will be "Cape May". Only "Spin" is in the meditative genre. But in the meantime, there are good moments on “Polarity Ambient Side”. "They Own the Night" is sculpted on the model of "Inverted Spring" but with more elements of nervous, hectic and spasmodic percussions through its evolution. Wrapped closely in layers of dark and hollow breezes, the Drums'n'Bass "Dance of Death" becomes very appealing. There are titles of pure lugubrious atmospheres such as "Hyacinth" and "La Guerre De Tous Contre Tous" which is accompanied by nice elements of Psybient on a soft rhythm. A rhythm which flows towards "Stratospheric Layers". The Acid-House "Press Elements" wakes up us pretty roughly. Focal goes also in Steve Roach's Tribal Ambient style with 2 gorgeous tracks, "Hunting The Black Eagle" and "Distant Shadows", which are by far the most beautiful moments on “Polarity Ambient Side”. The echoes of the delicate ringings of "Malefactor" forge a circular rhythm which awakes the dins of "Entonación Chilena", nevertheless flooded in a storm of wintry winds, and of "Cape May" which is rather difficult to assimilate.The Techno side is without history! Focal sticks 13 titles from Ultimae Records in order to make a long mosaic of rhythms which preserve the same intensity with rather conservative atmospheres. We are not in the EDM here, but well and truly into a soft Techno with beautiful percussive effects which will seduce certainly the followers dancing on a dancefloor. What holds attention here is this impression that “Polarity Techno Side” is conceived for an evening of Rave Party enlightens of freshness and of cheerfulness. It's sober and energizing with all the sound decoration inherent to the genre. There is good Acid House and nice Drums'n'Bass along with those sorts of Dance hymns, as well as these ambient Techno where the stars seem within reach of fingers. And like in “Polarity Ambient Side”, a velocity is getting on the pace from the last titles, be "Reality in Numbers". And surprisingly, this intensity is in the atmospheres and the effects of noises which have set ablaze the finale of the ambient version of “Polarity”. And a good DJ always knows how to fire the torpor of the dancers who stir like Zombies starving for air! With a thing which delights and which asks for an Encore from the dancers. A title like "Otherness" which makes me say that finally, Techno is not that bad!Sylvain Lupari (July 4th, 2017)synth&sequences.comYou will find this album on the Ultimae Records Bandcamp page here

Members of this Blog

Qui suis-je

Bonjour!
My name is Sylvain Lupari from Joliette in Quebec (Canada). I’m known as Phaedream all over the Internet since the beginning of 2000 where I started to write reviews. In 2005, I joined the French Webzine Guts of Darkness and on August 2010 I created a Blog, Synth & Sequences, which has reached the point of 1 000,000 visitors on February 2017 where I also wrote my 1354th review. In French and in English, I wrote more than reviews of EM albums.
This Blog is a huge success and reference about the music which sets my mind free over the years. Too many chronicles, so I have to split this Blog in several sections. Robert Schroeder is the first to welcome my thoughts on Webpress.
So, welcome to this part of my Blog Synth&Sequences which is devoted to the music, the tones and sounds of Aachen’s own Robert Schroeder.
Here you will find informations about his career and discography and latest news as well as deep reviews about his music, his albums.
My only wish is to guide you through his impressive career and may I suggest to visit regularly my Blog Synth & Sequences for more updates on EM.